Life Comes at You Fast

So, I was pretty slack in my posting during October. What's even more slack is that I almost wrote "March" instead of October. Guess that's a Freudian slip. Where did the time go since March?? We're well into November. The holidays are pressing at the window and I'm still wondering where summer went.

Somewhere in the past month was a trip to Mississippi and Louisiana. I experienced my first solo site visits as I checked out some hotels where we're hoping to host a conference. I saw Mal and Dave's new home. It really is a home now. Their apartment is completely decorated (as only Mal can do) and now full of memories. They're both enjoying their jobs, have made new friends, and are settling into their life as newlyweds in the military. It was quite a different trip than the one I made in August, where Mal was finishing rooms, walls were bare, her job was a big question mark, and not a local friend had been made. It was a joy to go down there again and see smiles and know that they are both content.

Back in DC, I've just begun my final class for grad school. Tonight I met my last professor and reviewed the final syllabus I'll have as a student. There was an electricity in the air as my fellow cohorts and I recognized where we'd arrived. Although the celebration is still in the distance, I can't help but see the light. How has it passed so quickly? Time is really a blink.

As school wraps, I've started training for the half-marathon that I'm doing in March. The 13.1 miles is on the distant horizon, but my training schedule is posted on my bedroom wall. It will be the longest run I've done and I'm looking forward to tackling it. Mal has signed up for it as well. Plus, I have a couple DC friends who are running the full marathon (26.2 miles) that is the same day. I'm looking forward to the change in my body that comes with training for an event. Mentally, there's something that sparks. When the muscles are tired and hot, the brain kicks in and provides the extra drive to make it to the next sign or that hydrant or just past that car. A game begins, with the distance and time being the other players. Can I beat my time? Can I push myself an extra few blocks? Running can be boring, but it's also quite therapeutic. Not as therapeutic as writing, but it's pretty close!

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go to the first "adult party" I'd been to in a while. The attendees were a mixture of ages, a "real meal" was served, and there were conversations filled with purpose and aimed at bettering society. My "DC parents" (Rich and Kathy) hosted a party in their home and invited about a dozen of us over to learn about Act One, a writer's and executive training program for people in Hollywood and the film industry. I was invited because of my relationship to the hosts and for my appreciation for film and the arts. I met some really interesting people, such as the writer/director of a film I saw two years ago called As We Forgive, which focuses on healing and forgiveness being done in Rwanda after the genocides. Laura Waters Hinson is a beautiful woman who studied at American University and created the film as a student. She's since graduated and is using it to promote healing and racial reconciliation. Our worlds got smaller as we talked and I realized that she is married to a guy with whom I went to high school! Besides Laura, I also met Ben Lobato, a writer for the show The Unit and a graduate of the Act One program. He spoke extensively about the program and gave some of his life story. He came to know Christ later in life, while doing some time in the military, and has been a Christian in Hollywood. His story is fascinating and it was interesting to hear how God has worked in his life and in Hollywood.

I can't promise that my postings will be more frequent than the rate they were last month, but I can write this: I've at least tied the number! Here's to hoping I'll up it...